Happy Birthday, Grandma!

My mom celebrated her birthday on Monday, so we had her over for some cake and showered her with birthday gifts!

Here she is with her gift from Henry. I helped him pick it out. ;o) He looks very pleased with my decision though!



Great-Grandma and Jack watched from the chair:

Here's mom with the bottoms to the jammies that hubby and I bought her. My mom lives in jammies when she's home, and it's hilarious, because she is so particular about them. They have to be two pieces, and those two pieces have to coordinate. She would not be caught in a red top with purple bottoms. Me? I wear whatever I grab first. Her? Not so much! You can see the coordinating tank top over her knee there. She loved them!

And here's mom with the birthday cake I made for her. One of the moms I chat with online suggested Paula Deen's Butterscotch Delight, but mentioned that she'd also seen it made with Oreos, so I combined a few recipes to make this Oreo Delight:

Does it look yummy? Because IT WAS! Holy man... you have no idea. It was soooooooo good! Quite possibly the best tasting dessert I've ever tasted in my entire life!

Here is the (combined) recipe I used:

Oreo Delight

1 (20 ounce) package chocolate sandwich cookies
1/2 cup butter

Crush cookies into bite size pieces. Reserve 1 cup for top. Melt butter and mix with rest of cookies. Press into 9x13 pan.

8 oz. Cream Cheese, at room temp
1 cup Powdered Sugar

Beat these together in a bowl.

3 cups Heavy Cream
3/4 cup Sugar

Whip these together until it forms stiff peaks.

2 - 3.4 oz packages Chocolate Fudge Instant Pudding Mix
3 cups Milk

Prepare pudding according to package directions using the 3 cups of milk. Fold 1 cup of whipped cream into cream cheese mix and spread over crust. Spread the pudding over that layer, and cover the whole thing with the rest of the whipped cream. Sprinkle the top with the reserved crushed Oreos. Chill overnight.

I have to tell you, it is NOT like me to go through this much effort for a recipe. I am the kind of person who will usually only try recipes if they include 3 or less ingredients and 2 steps. I found the Cool Whip variation of this recipe on allrecipes.com, and there was a day when I would have just made that.... but now I know why people go through the extra effort. If my mother's words ever came back to me, it was while tasting this recipe because it's totally true: you get out of it, what you put into it. Although I'm sure it's much easier, I'd lay money on the fact that the Cool Whip version doesn't taste nearly as good as this does!

If you decide to try it, leave a comment here and let me know how you liked it!

Nekkid Bebe!

When it's time for a bath, we've always undressed Henry in his bedroom and then let him streak down the hall to the bathroom yelling, "Nekkid Bebe!" as he goes. Today he had a little accident (explosive diaper - damn antibiotics!), so I had to strip him mid-day. He really could have used a bath then and there, but I didn't have anywhere to put Jack that he would have been content, so I had to do the best I could with cleaning him up. Anyhow, after I put his diaper on, I went to get him some clean clothes and he ran after me shouting, "Nekkid Bebe!" over and over. tee hee. :)

I had to grab my camera and snap a few pictures.

Down Time

Jack started running a fever last Wednesday, and it continued through Monday, when he also started to develop a bad cough and was gasping for air. We took him in, and he was admitted to the hospital for a day with croup and stridorous breathing. He needed several treatments to get his breathing back under control.

The following day, Henry also developed a fever, and was diagnosed with pneumonia when we took him to the pediatrician. This pic was taken on day 1 of his sickness as he snuggled with Grandma.... on day 2, he was flat on his back on the couch for 14 hours straight, and absolutely refused to move for anything (this was the day I took him to the Dr., which he fought... "I no like my dotdor.... I not feewing so good.... I no like my dotdor"). The Dr. gave him two shots of antibiotics, and by this morning (day 3) he was up and about again, and thankfully feeling much better.

I will be so glad once the sickies are out of the house for good!

What do you see?

Here is a short video of Henry looking at one of his favorite picture books. For as long as we've been reading together (basically all his life), I've asked him what he sees on every page of every book. I'm trying to get him to notice the little things in the background in the hopes that he will grow up to be more observant of the things around him than some men I know (*ahem* lol!).

The theory doesn't really apply to this book since all that's there are pictures... but at least I explained my title. ;o)

No, Mama...

I didn't eat any Cheerios. I promise I.....

What?

Oh.... that.

I can explain...